Negotiations on the purchase of warships between Italy and Russia are still continuing. Such a major event as the purchase of warships is difficult to conclude within two or three months. Although Russia's preparations to purchase Italian warships have attracted great attention, there is another incident that has caused a huge sensation among the people and even the governments of various countries.
Just in April of this year, Sir Alfred Milner, Prime Minister of the British Cape Colony, instructed British expatriates in the Transvaal to write a letter of grievance to Queen Victoria, asking her to protect the interests of British subjects.
In the United Kingdom, Colonial Secretary Chamberlain promoted military treatment of the Boers. In addition, the British media also created public opinion, claiming that the Boers were destroyers of peace and that they ignored the order of the empire and so on. In addition, he made a high-profile claim that the British Empire could annex these two countries with just one "pleasant trip".
The British people, incited by the media, expressed their support for the British Empire's colonial policy. The British Imperial Army even claimed that it only needed 10 million pounds to solve the Boer troubles. It was the heroic and proficient performance of the Boers before that made the British military decide to invest a huge sum of 10 million pounds, otherwise 5 million would have been enough.
The ultimate reason why the British Empire was so hostile to the two Boer countries was interests.
In 1884, prospecting experts discovered the world's largest Witwatersrand gold mine (its gold reserves accounted for 10% of the world's total) on a remote pasture between Pretoria and the Vaal River in the Republic of Transvaal. 40% of total gold reserves), and Johannesburg was subsequently built on this gold mine.
Profits and taxes from the gold mines enabled the Transvaal Republic's economy to develop rapidly, while the Orange Republic also made a good living from the production of diamonds. The continuous discovery of mineral resources in the two Boer countries also attracted the greedy eyes of the British.
Of course, the British Empire had only used force before this. In 1895, Dr. Johnson, a senior employee of the South African Mining Company, led 500 South African Company police and several machine guns in an attempt to expedition to the Transvaal and overthrow the Paul Kruger regime in the Transvaal.
As a result, except for 134 people who were killed, the rest, including Johnson, were all captured. As for the riots initiated by the internal "Alien Reform Committee", they were also suppressed by the police. Yes, this was the first Boer War and the origin of William II's famous telegram.
Of course, after suffering a loss last time, the British Empire felt that relying on the police to do things this time was not reliable at all. If you want to capture the two Boer republics, you still need the regular army to take action.
As a result, the British Empire's troops began to gather in South Africa. Of course, while preparing military measures, the British Empire also wanted to use the method of subjugation without fighting to make the two Boer countries that had offended the imperial power quickly realize their mistakes and obediently obey the orders of the British Empire.
Therefore, in June, Milner, the governor of the Cape Colony, and Kruger, the president of the Transvaal Republic, held the last negotiation on the issue of protecting the rights and interests of foreigners in Bloemfontein.
However, this negotiation did not go smoothly because the Boers were unwilling to recognize the British Empire's claim for suzerainty, even if it meant reducing the period of stay for foreigners to obtain Transvaal citizenship from 14 years to 5 years.
Negotiations on the purchase of warships between Italy and Russia are still continuing. Such a major event as the purchase of warships is difficult to conclude within two or three months. Although Russia's preparations to purchase Italian warships have attracted great attention, there is another incident that has caused a huge sensation among the people and even the governments of various countries.
Just in April of this year, Sir Alfred Milner, Prime Minister of the British Cape Colony, instructed British expatriates in the Transvaal to write a letter of grievance to Queen Victoria, asking her to protect the interests of British subjects.
In the United Kingdom, Colonial Secretary Chamberlain promoted military treatment of the Boers. In addition, the British media also created public opinion, claiming that the Boers were destroyers of peace and that they ignored the order of the empire and so on. In addition, he made a high-profile claim that the British Empire could annex these two countries with just one "pleasant trip".
The British people, incited by the media, expressed their support for the British Empire's colonial policy. The British Imperial Army even claimed that it only needed 10 million pounds to solve the Boer troubles. It was the heroic and proficient performance of the Boers before that made the British military decide to invest a huge sum of 10 million pounds, otherwise 5 million would have been enough.
The ultimate reason why the British Empire was so hostile to the two Boer countries was interests.
In 1884, prospecting experts discovered the world's largest Witwatersrand gold mine (its gold reserves accounted for 10% of the world's total) on a remote pasture between Pretoria and the Vaal River in the Republic of Transvaal. 40% of total gold reserves), and Johannesburg was subsequently built on this gold mine.
Profits and taxes from the gold mines enabled the Transvaal Republic's economy to develop rapidly, while the Orange Republic also made a good living from the production of diamonds. The continuous discovery of mineral resources in the two Boer countries also attracted the greedy eyes of the British.
Of course, the British Empire had only used force before this. In 1895, Dr. Johnson, a senior employee of the South African Mining Company, led 500 South African Company police and several machine guns in an attempt to expedition to the Transvaal and overthrow the Paul Kruger regime in the Transvaal.
As a result, except for 134 people who were killed, the rest, including Johnson, were all captured. As for the riots initiated by the internal "Alien Reform Committee", they were also suppressed by the police. Yes, this was the first Boer War and the origin of William II's famous telegram.
Of course, after suffering a loss last time, the British Empire felt that relying on the police to do things this time was not reliable at all. If you want to capture the two Boer republics, you still need the regular army to take action.
As a result, the British Empire's troops began to gather in South Africa. Of course, while preparing military measures, the British Empire also wanted to use the method of subjugation without fighting to make the two Boer countries that had offended the imperial power quickly realize their mistakes and obediently obey the orders of the British Empire.
Therefore, in June, Milner, the governor of the Cape Colony, and Kruger, the president of the Transvaal Republic, held the last negotiation on the issue of protecting the rights and interests of foreigners in Bloemfontein.
However, this negotiation did not go smoothly because the Boers were unwilling to recognize the British Empire's claim for suzerainty, even if it meant reducing the period of stay for foreigners to obtain Transvaal citizenship from 14 years to 5 years.
